Climate Journalism in Türkiye and Beyond: A Literature Review
Issue / OnlineFirst
Issue 3/1
Year / Vol / Number
2026 / 3 / 1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.65552/energytr.2026.3.1.004
Keywords
climate journalism, climate communication, solution journalism, climate change, literature review
Author/s
İbrahim Özgür Gürleyen1
1 Master's Student, Kırklareli University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Kırklareli, Türkiye
Abstract
This study examines the transformation from environmental journalism to climate journalism within a historical and conceptual framework and evaluates the main orientations of both the international literature and studies conducted in Türkiye. Research in the field demonstrates that climate journalism has moved beyond a journalistic practice that merely renders environmental destruction visible. It is evolving into a distinct area of expertise that translates scientific knowledge into public discourse, monitors official climate policies, scrutinizes political and economic responsibilities, and brings solutions and climate justice to the fore. The climate journalism literature in Türkiye relies predominantly on discourse and framing analyses of media content. In mainstream media, key problems include lack of contextualization regarding anthropogenic climate change, limited specialization, and superficial disaster-driven reporting. Independent and niche climate media outlets, despite financial difficulties, occupy a more promising position in terms of science communication and solutions-oriented journalism. The literature points to a need for field research with news producers, studies on visual and written news production practices on digital platforms, and comparative cross-country case analyses.
References
Appelgren, E., & Jönsson, A. M. (2021). Engaging citizens for climate change—challenges for journalism. Digital Journalism, 9(6), 755–772. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1827965
Beattie, G. (2020). Advertising and media capture: The case of climate change. Journal of Public Economics, 188, 104219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104219
Besel, R. D. (2013). Accommodating climate change science: James Hansen and the rhetorical/political emergence of global warming. Science in Context, 26(1), 137–152. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=comm_fac
Boykoff, M. T., & Boykoff, J. M. (2004). Balance as bias: Global warming and the US prestige press. Global Environmental Change, 14(2), 125–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2003.10.001
Brulle, R. J., Aronczyk, M., & Carmichael, J. (2020). Corporate promotion and climate change: An analysis of key variables affecting advertising spending by major oil corporations, 1986-2015. Climatic Change, 159(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02582-8
Brüggemann, M., & Engesser, S. (2017). Beyond false balance: How interpretive journalism shapes media coverage of climate change. Global Environmental Change, 42, 58–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.11.004
Brüggemann, M., Frech, J., & Schäfer, T. (2022). Transformative journalisms: How the global ecological crisis is transforming journalism. In A. Hansen & R. Cox (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of environment and communication (pp. 221–236). Routledge.
Budak, E., & Baloğlu, E. (2025). Medya çevre afetlerini nasıl işliyor: Orman yangınları üzerine bir inceleme. Kronotop İletişim Dergisi, 2(1), 1–22.
Cengiz, Ö. (2023). Türkiye’de iklim haberciliği: Kuraklık haberleri üzerine bir içerik analizi. İletişim Kuram ve Araştırma Dergisi, 62, 113–132. https://doi.org/10.47998/ikad.1252254
Cengiz, Ö. (2025). How did the media frame Cop29? Turkish mainstream media & foreign press in Turkish. The Turkish Online Journal of Design Art and Communication, 15(2), 476–490. https://doi.org/10.7456/tojdac.1614990
Chinn, S., Hart, P. S., & Soroka, S. (2020). Politicization and polarization in climate change news content, 1985–2017. Science Communication, 42(1), 112–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547019900290
Corbett, J. B. (2012). Communicating nature: How we create and understand environmental messages. Princeton University Press.
Çömlekçi, M. F. (2022). Why do fact-checking organizations go beyond fact-checking? A leap toward media and information literacy education. International Journal of Communication, 16, 4563–4583.
Çömlekçi, M. F. (2025a). Covering environment and climate change in Turkey: Transformative journalisms face competitive authoritarianism. Journalism, 25(2), 481–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231155353
Çömlekçi, M. F. (2025b). Climate change communication in the post-normal era: The intersecting roles of independent journalists and fact-checkers. Journalism Practice, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786. 2025.2551987
Ejaz, W., & Najam, A. (2023). The Global South and climate coverage: From news taker to news maker. Social Media+Society, 9(2), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231177904
Ersoy, M., & İşeri, E. (2021). Framing environmental debates over nuclear energy in Turkey’s polarized media system. Turkish Studies, 22(3), 410–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2020.1746908
Fahy, D., & Nisbet, M. C. (2011). The science journalist online: Shifting roles and emerging practices. Journalism, 12(7), 778–793. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884911412697
Fide, E. B. (2022). Turkish press climate crisis coverage (2018–2019): Elements of disconnect in discourses and the representation of solutions. New Perspectives on Turkey, 67, 32–56. https://doi.org/10.1017/npt.2022.8
Guenther, L., Jörges, S., Mahl, D., & Brüggemann, M. (2024). Framing as a bridging concept for climate change communication: A systematic review based on 25 years of literature. Communication Research, 51(4), 367–391. https://doi.org/10.1177/00936502221137165
Günay, D., İşeri, E., & Ersoy, M. (2018). Alternative media and the securitization of climate change in Turkey. Alternatives, 43(2), 96-114. https://doi.org/10.1177/0304375418820384
Hansen, A. (2020). Sources, strategic communication, and environmental journalism. In D. Sachsman & J. Valenti (Eds.), Routledge handbook of environmental journalism (pp. 38–51). Routledge.
Hayes, S., & O’Neill, S. (2025). Transformative journalisms and the seductive power of imagery in digital climate niche journalism. Journalism. (Advance online publication). https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849251372742
Joseph, S. (2024). Silent spring: The rise of the environmental movement. In P. Calvi (Ed.), The literary journalist as a naturalist (pp. 111–133). Palgrave MacMillan.
Kamboh, S. A., & Ittefaq, M. (2023). Advocacy journalism and climate justice in a Global Southern country. Local Environment, 28(4), 412–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2022.2155937
Keneş, H. Ç. (2024). İklim krizinin medyada ele alınışı: Akademik eğilimlerin ve çalışmaların bibliyografik analizi. Kültür ve İletişim, 27(54), 221–257. https://doi.org/10.18691/kulturveiletisim.1522634
Mocatta, M. G. (2015). Environmental journalism. University of Tasmania. https://hdl.handle.net/102.100.100/538606
Mocatta, M. G., Saville, S., Payne, N., Lai, J., Jansson, L., & Hess, K. (2024). Covering the planet: Assessing the state of climate and environmental journalism globally (Report). https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/report/Covering_the_Planet_Assessing_the_state_of_climate_and_environmental_journalism_globally/25997494
Neuzil, M. (2020). The development of environmental journalism in the Western world. In Sachsman, D. B. & Valenti, J. M. (Eds.), Routledge handbook of environmental journalism (pp. 19–37). Routledge.
Newman, N., Fletcher, R., Eddy, K., Robertson, C.T., & Kleis Nielsen, R. (2023). Reuters institute digital news report 2023. Reuters Institute. https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2023-06/Digital_News_Report_2023.pdf
Nisbet, M. C. (2009). Communicating climate change: Why frames matter for public engagement. Environment: Science and policy for sustainable development, 51(2), 12–23. https://doi.org/10.3200/ENVT.51.2.12-23
Porritt, J. (2018). Climate change is real. We must not offer credibility to those who deny it. The Guardian. August, 26. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/26/climate-change-is-real-we-must-not-offercredibility-to-those-who-deny-it
Robbins, D. (2024). A history of digital environmental journalism at the BBC and the Guardian. Journalism, 25(5), 1130–1147. https://doi.org/10.1177/14648849231179785
Schäfer, M. S., & Painter, J. (2021). Climate journalism in a changing media ecosystem: Assessing the production of climate change-related news around the world. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 12(1), e675. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.675
Shabecoff, P. (1988). Global warming has begun, expert tells senate. New York Times, 24(A1). https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/24/us/global-warming-has-begun-expert-tells-senate.html
Şahin, M. (2020). İklim değişikliği ve bilim gazeteciliği: Avustralya yangınları haberlerinde bilim izi. Gümüşhane Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Elektronik Dergisi, 8(2), 1011–1030. https://doi.org/10.19145/e-gifder.726578
Thier, K., & Lin, T. (2022). How solutions journalism shapes support for collective climate change adaptation. Environmental Communication, 16(8), 1027–1045. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2143842
Turğal, L., & Küçükerdoğan, B. B. (2023). Bir dezenformasyon aracı olarak yapay zekâ: Bing arama motoru örneğinde iklim değişikliği konulu haber fotoğraflarının incelenmesi. İletişim ve Diplomasi, 11, 57–82. https://doi.org/10.54722/iletisimvediplomasi.1376404
Waisbord, S. (2009). Advocacy journalism in a global context. In K. WahlJorgensen & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), The handbook of journalism studies (pp. 371–385). Routledge.
Wetts, R., Morris, H. E., Boykoff, M., McNally, B., Painter, J., Sanford, M., … & Tschötschel, R. (2025). Climate media amidst technopolitical change: Challenges, transformations, and new directions for research. Climatic Change, 178(6), 115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03936-1
Willig, I., Blach-Ørsten, M., & Burkal, R. (2022). What is ‘good’ climate journalism? Public perceptions of climate journalism in Denmark. Journalism Practice, 16(2-3), 520–539. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2021.2016069
Yaşa, H. (2025). Küresel bir sorun olarak iklim değişikliği: Haber içerikleri ve fotoğrafları üzerine karma bir analiz. Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 24(4), 1785–1815. https://doi.org/10.21547/jss.1660711
Yeles Karaman, S. (2026). A bibliometric analysis of climate journalism research in English-language publications. Journalism Practice, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2026.2662636